Belnome Notches First MLB Hit, RBI

Former West Virginia University infielder Vince Belnome notched his first MLB hit and RBI last night for the Tampa Bay Rays in an 11-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Belnome, who was called up for the third time this season last Saturday, had a ground-rule double in the second inning, eventually scoring on a Ben Zobrist single.

"People will always say the first one is the hardest," Belnome told MLB.com. "But I've been having good at-bats and finally one fell in."

In the fourth inning Belnome hit a ball to right field that was initially called a home run, but after review the call was overturned as the ball narrowly went foul.

"I hit it and I was looking at it," Belnome said. "I couldn't really tell if it went around the pole or in front of the pole. The umpire called it a home run, so I was going to run around the bases. Then after looking at it, called up to the video guys and said it was 50-50, they couldn't tell. Then they [overturned it]."

The Coatesville, Pennsylvania native picked up his first RBI in the eight inning with a game-tying sacrifice fly.

Belnome was a 2009 All-American at West Virginia. In the career rankings he is No. 3 in RBI (174), No. 4 in batting average (.388) and No. 8 in doubles (51).